Write a story with a strong sense of place. How is the setting of your world the same as, but different to, our own?

Posted in Mystery on Mar 22, 2024

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✍️ 50 stories

“Death Follows” by Niamh Carroll

Submitted to Contest #243

The bench was cold, he sat there a familiar spark flowing through him. Soon he thought, there’s work here. The air was crisp and light, a beautiful autumn morning. The trees around him were dying. Oranges, yellows, and browns showing the familiar look and giving the familiar scent of decay. He couldn’t remember how he got there, like always, the job always started like this. Disorientated and confused, but this time of year was something he always felt a kinship with. The death, he understood more than anyone. The lake across from where h...

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“Twisted Tarn” by AJ Diaz

Submitted to Contest #243

Standing water, with a mossy green sheen across the top. I stand here, wine in hand. Red wine. Green tarn. The light is reflected from the bottom of the body of water. Green-covered rocks. And the sulfurous smell, though I can’t really smell it. Still. Not good. I need wine to be able to approach the tarn. I dare not do it without alcoholic libation. Though I can barely feel the effects of the alcohol. I am a man of no means, save for the produce that grows on my land. I’ve always loved the land. The deep violet rolling f...

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“The Fishbowl” by Luci Hittle

Submitted to Contest #243

The thing I remember most is the mud. It seemed alive, pulsing with a wet, festering heartbeat, sweating malice in the Florida heat. This mud could choke a body, pull you with grasping tentacles into a rotting and tepid grave. It wormed its way into the blisters on my heels as I walked, slick and unsympathetic beneath my calloused step.Charlie, who at that time was still alive, walked next to me like he always did, his paws and legs mud-stained almost to the level of his mangy stomach. There used to be water waist-deep in this area, at least...

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“This Apocalyptic World Is Cassidy's Fault” by Sofia Fleming

Submitted to Contest #243

Movement passes by in flashes. Pain throbs in my veins, ridiculing my body. Something soft is thrown over me. I fade in and out of consciousness, getting glimpses of the landscape. Crumbling ziggurats are partially collapsed with bricks spilling down the sides. Ancient cuneiform tablets are strewn about, their wisdom lost. The streets of Baghdad are lined with buildings damaged by earthquakes and tsunamis amongst collapsed souks and mosques. Abandoned tanks and military vehicles rust in the desert. Tattered fatigues caught on jagged metal ed...

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“Last man standing” by Holden Grey

Submitted to Contest #243

When Simon woke up that morning he knew something was wrong.The usual but subtle noises of his wife pottering around in the kitchen couldn't be heard. There was no slight slam of the cupboard doors or the hum of the microwave. And the most worrisome, was their Labrador, Daisy, barking at the back door. Natalie would never let her do that in the house. And she would certainly never let their beloved pet sound so aggressive without a stern warning. At first, he thought it was an intruder. Maybe something had happened to her and Daisy was...

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Write a story with a strong sense of place. How is the setting of your world the same as, but different to, our own?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 50 stories

“Death Follows” by Niamh Carroll

“Twisted Tarn” by AJ Diaz

“The Fishbowl” by Luci Hittle

“This Apocalyptic World Is Cassidy's Fault” by Sofia Fleming

“Last man standing” by Holden Grey

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story imagining 'what if' one historic invention had never happened. How would our world be different now?

Write a story from the point of view of a non-human character.

Write a story about a character who wakes up in space.

Write a story where time functions differently to our world.

Contest #243

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

286

Contest entries

113

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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